170mph, 6.6 V8, 70mpg - and it's British

Heard the one about the 6.6 V8 that’ll do 70mpg? One Norfolk car maker doesn’t reckon it’s a joke.

In case the massive V8 was not a big enough giveaway, we should point out that this is not a Lotus. This car comes from Norfolk’s other car maker, Trident Performance Vehicles, based at Beeston.

Trident is launching its new two-seater Iceni sports car, and it’s doing so by attempting to drive from Norwich to Monaco – around 1000 miles - on a single tank of fuel.

It’s not quite as mad as it seems: the Trident has 100-litre fuel tank, and its 6.6-litre V8 is a diesel. At 56mph, they reckon the Iceni can manage 70mpg. What’s more, the Iceni will be running biodiesel.

The car will be driven by Trident’s sales director, Kelly Bevan, and journalist Suzannah Sorrell. It leaves Norwich on 17 April, and aims to get to Monaco for the Top Marques motor show on the 19th.

Even if they use some of the car’s performance – it is claimed to do 0-60mph in 3.9sec and 170mph flat out – we reckon there will be plenty of fuel: at 70mpg, 100 litres should be good for over 1500 miles.